1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a server device, an association process flow determining method, and an image processing system which are adapted to manage an association process flow for performing image processing including plural processes on image data by association of plural external devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an image processing system has spread in which plural devices, including servers, personal computers, and multi-function peripherals (MFP) having multiple functions of scanners, facsimile machines, copiers, etc., are associated via a network to perform a series of image processing functions. In this image processing system, an association process flow is used for performing the image processing by association of the servers which share some of the functions included in the image processing and perform the respective processes of the functions corresponding to the servers.
An association process flow according to the related art will be described with reference to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are diagrams for explaining the association process flow according to the related art. FIG. 1A shows the devices which constitute an image processing system for performing the association process flow, and the functions which are to be performed by the devices. FIG. 1B shows the association process flow for performing the image processing.
In the example of FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the image processing system includes an image forming device (MFP), a server-1, and a server-2. As shown in FIG. 1A, the image forming device (MFP) is configured to perform Function-a, Function-b, and Function-c. The server-1 is configured to perform Function-a, Function-b, and Function-d. The server-2 is configured to perform Function-c and Function-d.
As shown in FIG. 1B, the association process flow in this case is performed by the image processing system as follows. Image data are input from the image forming device (MFP), the image processing including the processes of Functions-a, -b and -c is performed on the image data, and the resulting image data after the image processing is performed are stored in a document managing (DM) server.
Specifically, in the association process flow of FIG. 1B, the image data after the process of Function-a is performed by the image forming device (MFP) are output to the server-1. The image data after the process of Function-b is performed by the server-1 are output to the server-2. The image data are produced after the process of Function-c is performed by the server-2, and the image data output from the server-2 are stored in the DM server.
In this way, in the association process flow according to the related art, a series of image processing functions is performed by association of the plural devices which constitute the image processing system and share some of the functions included in the image processing.
In the association process flow of FIG. 1B, for example, if execution of the process of Function-b to be performed by the server-1 has failed, the association process flow may be modified so that the image forming device (MFP) is used to perform the processes of Function-a and Function-b and output the resulting image data to the server-2. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2011-108047 discloses such modification method. In the method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2011-108047, if a change in the state of the devices, such as a change of the functions to be performed by the servers, takes place, the definition of the association process flow is modified and the association process flow with the modified definition is carried out.
However, in the above association process flow according to the related art, if an error occurs in a server during execution of a process included in the association process flow, the server cannot output the image data to a post-process server which performs a post-process function following the process. In this case, there is a problem in that the user has to wait for recovery of the server or must restart the association process flow from the beginning.